WILMINGTON, Mass. — At around the same time the NHL announced its four-game suspension for Daniel Paille, Bruins head coach Claude Julien let Shawn Thornton leave practice earlier because the winger “wasn’t 100 percent.”

All in all, it was an eventful day for players wearing Merlot-colored practice jerseys at Ristuccia Arena.

Paille’s suspension came after a hearing with NHL VP Mike Murphy. He begin to serve it tomorrow when the Bruins host San Jose.

Julien said that Thornton will be OK to play against the Sharks, adding “players are banged up this time of year.”

Tyler Seguin and Gregory Campbell were the other forwards wearing Merlot. Zach Hamill, just summoned from the Providence (AHL) farm club centered a gray-wearing line with Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder. The other two lines stayed the way they’ve been.

Hamill will get a chance to add to his NHL game total (which stands at one) tomorrow afternoon.

“This is where I wanted to be at the start of [the season] and we’re in February now,” said Hamill, who enjoyed a solid NHL camp before the Bruins departed for Europe in the fall. “So, definitely it was a slow start … but it’s all right now.”

Doesn’t bother me so much that Hamill’s getting a shot at center on the Wheeler/Ryder line over Seguin. PC needs to see what he has heading into the trading deadline and eventual playoffs. He knows what Seguin can do and they’ve determined he’s best at wing for the rest of Year One. Now he has to figure out where the focus and money goes for the center position. Can they get by with someone like Hamill and spend more on D? Or, will they have to find both? The only way to find out is to give Hamill minutes and those minutes are to be found on the third line, not the fourth.

It’s basically a tryout for Hamill until the trading deadline. I wouldn’t even be surprised if they keep playing him or even call up someone else when Paille returns after 4 games.

even if we loose 2 4th line players for a few days, Ferrence put a guy on the ir and Thorton took his man out of the lineup for a probable week. Paille will probably miss the same amount of time as that rookie.